Shabbat

  

A siren sounds to announce the beginning of Shabbat (Sabbath). Though a few cars and pedestrians still create a little activity, for the most part the streets are quiet. Most shops and restaurants, other than a few non-Kosher ones, are closed. It is time for family, religious observance, and rest.

The three pictures above contrast Ben Yehuda Street. From left to right: Shabbat, a normal day, and a festival day (in this case, a day to celebrate plants and flowers).

Although it is strange for almost everything to be closed, and inconvenient if you need something from the store, I like the concept of Shabbat as it is observed here. In America, a day off is a day to mow the lawn, go grocery shopping, take the kids to a ballgame, etc. etc. It is a "rush here, rush there" mentality. For some of us, a mild guilt trip takes over if we are not stressed to the max. Here, for the observant, Shabbat is much more than simply a "day off."

Shabbat is a restful intermission. As Christians, we should live in spiritual rest. It is not God's design that we live weighed down with mental and physical stress and chronic anxiety. Although it seems to take a lot of storms for most of us to realize the advantages of trusting God, His design is that we are peaceful and at rest inside, despite the wind and waves swirling around us.

Ancient Jerusalem Tomb

 

Behind the landmark King David Hotel, on a hill overlooking the Old City, is a first century BC tomb. Though Herod the Great is thought to have been buried at his fortress-palace called Herodium, authorities think this was the tomb of his family.

Herod was highly dysfunctional, to say the least. It did not seem to bother him to order murders, even if the victim was one of his wives. He was the Herod in power when Jesus was born and killing infants and children was not beneath him either (Matthew 2:16). In addition to his ruthlessness, the Jews did not like Herod because he was not a full blooded Jew, but an Idumaean.

Which of Herod's family was buried here we do not know. It is not even with complete certainty that we can state this is where they were laid to rest. But it is fascinating to see a grave so intact that dates to the time of Jesus.

Though the inside of the tomb has been made inaccessible to visitors, we could walk all around it. Steps descend to the door of the tomb. What I found so intriguing is the rolling stone that would have been used to close the entrance. It is big, thick, and carefully rounded. Producing it was certainly not an express project, but one that must have been time-consuming and costly.

I read that after a deceased person was placed in a tomb such as this, the stone would be rolled into place, covering the opening. Clay or wax was sometimes inserted between the stone and the wall to seal the grave. It was common for wealthy families such as Herod’s to be buried together in caves or sepulchers cut out of rock.

Jesus was probably placed in a similar tomb, but He did not stay there long! Though the chief priests and Pharisees, with Pilate's permission, "made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch," Jesus defied the grave (Matthew 27:57-28:15). The human methods of containing the dead could not contain Jesus, for he rose from the grave just as He'd said He would.

Now, as He was buried, so we are buried...not in a rock-hewn cave, but in baptism into death. And, as He rose from the dead, so do we rise to walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4-5). This ancient tomb provides much more than a peek into the past, but serves as a picture of the victorious life Jesus wants us to embrace!

Jerusalem's Symbol

 

You see them everywhere. Lions. The "Lion of Judah" is the emblem of this ancient city and you can spot these creatures on park benches, security fences, even manhole covers. They are standing free in city parks. Some of them are true works of art. It is telling that the courageous lion continues as the symbol of this relatively small but enduring city.

Mahane Yehuda

  
  
  

I love going to the market, or shuk, as it is called in Hebrew. The sights, sounds, smells are bright and exciting. Tourists with fancy cameras blend with young and old locals, looking and shopping. Some stalls sell nothing except dried fruit and nuts, others specialize in spices. Bakeries dot the market, selling breads, pastries, and cookies. Then there is the fish market, and the chicken stand, juice bar, and dry goods stores. Mostly it is fresh produce, brought from Carmel and the Jordan Valley, I think. You might find a gourmet cheese shop here or there and tiny restaurants squeezed in between the produce stalls.

When I was a kid, Dad liked to stop at the farmers market on Hall Street. Men would bring truckloads of cantaloupes and watermelons and other produce from southern Missouri. That was good preparation for this, except this is a lot noisier and much more crowded. The colorful variety of produce is a delight to the eyes. We have only been to the grocery store twice since we arrived, and we didn't buy much there. Mahane Yehuda is a lot more fun, not to mention a whole lot cheaper!

We even found a couple of health food stores there, and two whole-grain natural bakeries. We bought couscous and organic Israeli extra-virgin olive oil from one of the health food stores. One of the bakeries makes organic whole-grain spelt pita bread and another has whole-grain rustic bread that we like. So far, our meals consist mostly of vegetables, fish, fruit, dried figs, and fresh baked goods. We feel great and are enjoying all this fresh food at rock-bottom prices!

By the way, "Mahane Yehuda" means "Field of Judah."

   

Home Cooking

  
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Mahane Yehuda is about a 15 minute walk from our apartment. Now that we have figured out how to operate the stovetop and little oven, and have worked a plan to keep things cold in spite of the defunct refrigerator, we are in business preparing simple meals.

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So far, for our breakfasts we have prepared a combination of the following: Israeli salad, oranges, figs, cheese, eggs, pecans, labeneh, hummus, and pita bread. We spread labeneh and hummus on pita bread and and also top it with Israeli salad.

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The first decent dinner we prepared was Israeli farm-raised tilapia. This is sometimes called St. Peter's fish. I have been told that it used to be harvested from the Sea of Galilee (known here as the Kinneret) but due to the decreasing water level commercial fishing has been suspended. At the market, some tilapia is black and some is orange-yellow; we have tried both. The fishmonger said the yellow-orange was milder than the black, though we could detect no difference. He filleted it for us. We prepared some simple vegetables (also purchased at Mahane Yehuda) - eggplant, garlic, onions, bell peppers, broccoli - all cooked with an Israeli spice blend. It was a very healthy and delicious meal.

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We are also happy to report that we have had no intestinal discomfort, as has happened before when we have visited foreign countries. I have opted to not clean the vegetables with solution, hoping our bodies would adjust to the food. So far so good. We do use lemon juice to purify the fish and lemon is an ingredient in the Israeli Salad, so I suppose that also helps keep tummy pests at bay.

Ben Yehuda Street

  

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From our apartment we can see Ben Yehuda Street, Jerusalem's lively pedestrian mall. Here you can purchase anything from Cuban cigars to flowers to Judaic gifts. At night, the street becomes even livelier, as people come out of the woodwork and street muscians set up camp. A harpist frequents the plaza with her lovely music. Further down the street you might hear a clarinet or drums. A small group of young people might gather to sing acapella. At the end of the street is Zion Square, a site that hosts political demonstrations from time to time. It is not uncommon to see a group of Orthodox men plying pamphlets across the street from dreadlock-wearing hippie-looking guys making a statement by strumming a box guitar and singing American songs from the 60s.
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This area of town we live in is called City Centre. It is a more secular area of town, where hip-hop hairstyles and trendy clothes are acceptable. Most of the crowd is young and energetic. At 12:30 a.m. Friday we happened to be making our way home. Our route necessitated that we walk down Jaffa Street and through part of the area that "comes alive" at night. The streets were like one big party. People - mostly young - in and out of bars and restaurants were drinking, laughing, talking. A few were even having arguments and getting into trouble. Bill, who, due to his past experience, detects things I do not, commented on one young man who was making a horrible face as he took a drink of something. Bill informed me that some beverages taste terrible, yet people drink them anyway. Such as it is, for nightlife in Jerusalem, this is the place to be.
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The other night as we were walking around, I said to Bill, "I would like to make some new friends." Moments later I saw a bookstore that advertised English books. We walked in and met Gabby, a Philadelphian native who has been in Israel for eight years. We chatted for quite a while and had a lovely time. I did not buy a book because I could not decide what I wanted, so we will return soon. We enjoyed her bubbly conversation.
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Through the years since Israel's inception in 1948, Ben Yehuda Street has been a preferred location for terrorist bombings. Amazingly, no one seems to be bothered by that fact. I find this a signature trait of Middle Easterners. Perhaps they think "Tragedy occurs, but life goes on." Abject fear does not seem to control these people.
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Ben Yehuda Street in many ways is much more than a tourist trap. It is the modern expression of youthful hope and activity. The little alleys and roads that meet it invite the pedestrian to explore them. Bounded on one end by Jaffa Street and the other by King George Street, it is a tidy rectangle of bustling activity, where friends meet for a French crepe or an elegant dinner. Since I am really a city girl at heart, I find it fun to step out of our apartment building each day, walk a few steps onto Ben Yehuda Street, and go from there to our destination. At night, voices and horns blend with the sounds of cats and doves, making for quite an interesting backdrop as we close our days.
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By the way, "Ben Yehuda" means "Son of Judah."

Lineage Lesson

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Here, I am often mistaken as Jewish. Recently, a man told me, "You look and dress just like a religious Jewish woman." I told him, "Other than the scarf, this is exactly how I dress in the States." In this society, a head covering helps portray that I am married.
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Funny, but when I was in my mid-teens, I was asked a few times by strangers if I was Jewish. The dark hair, eyebrows, and nose all lead people to draw that conclusion, I suppose. And my usual style of dress - long skirts and loose clothing - help me fit right in here.
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It doesn't matter if a person's father is Jewish. One can only be classified as Jewish if Jewish blood can be detected in the mother's line. My mother's side of the family can trace its lineage back to the 1600s. Research labels us as solidly British, with a smattering of Irish and Scotch sprinkled in. A lady told us last week that a specific blood test can tell us if we have Jewish blood or not. That is most interesting, but probably not something we will do. I am quite content to visit here as an American, gleaning from Jewish ways and wisdom and learning from their society.

Laundry Day

We have been in Israel one week. We are learning our way around town, getting adjusted, meeting people, and are now fairly familiar with school procedures. But today was our first visit to the laundromat...and what a visit it was.

In Jerusalem, if people do not have washing facilites in their houses or apartment buildings, they use a take out service. I prefer to wash my own clothes. Problem is, there are very few laundromats in the city.

We went to the laundromat just a few hours before Shabbat was to begin, a mistake that we will not repeat. At one point during our visit there, seven people (including me) were vying for three washing machines and two dryers.

When we first arrived, a girl told us there was another laundromat down the street. I waited while Bill walked down the street to see if there were machines available at this other laundromat. The girl had lied to us; there was no other laundromat. Obviously, she wanted us to leave and create space for others.

This same girl acted like the Laundromat Queen. She reminded me of a pre-schooler domineering over a playground. She commanded (not asked or suggested) a young Orthodox man to remove his laundry from a washing machine. Then she told him how much of his laundry he should put in one dryer (all of it). (But when another young man came in, she was kind and helpful to him. I guess she liked Guy #2 but not Guy #1.) Strange, but she seemed to ooze anger most of the time. Who knows what in her background or life has caused her to be the way she is. Very sad. Regardless of the reasons for her poor attitude, it created quite an interesting (read: stressful) environment.

We were just finishing our laundry when the proprietor came in and began to argue with the room full of clients. Seems that they should not have put their laundry in the washing machines so close to Shabbat, or maybe he was wanting to close early. We couldn't glean the details of the argument because the entire discussion was in Hebrew. But the rapid hand gestures, expressive faces, and raised voices made it blatantly apparent that no one present was happy.

When we finished our laundry, the proprietor followed us outside, said "bye" and smiled at us. (We weren't on his bad side, thankfully.) It sure was good to get out into the sunshine, even if it meant toting our now-clean laundry in a cart for a quarter-mile, then up three flights of stairs.

Such an experience gives one a fresh appreciation for that clean pair of socks!

Lod

 

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We arrived in Israel via Ben Gurion International Airport, which is located in a city called Lod. Former names of this airport include Lod Airport and Lydda Airport. Lod is mentioned in I Chronicles 8:12, Ezra 2:33, and Nehemiah 7:37. In the New Testament the same city is called Lydda (Acts 9:32-42). There Aeneas was healed of the palsy by Peter’s spoken word. While Peter was at Lydda, he received word that Dorcas had died in Joppa. He left Lydda when he heard that news and her life was restored. In 1996 a remarkable mosaic was discovered in Lod. Said to be 1,700 years old, it is approximately 1,800 square feet. Among its detailed pictures are birds, fish, and ships.

Boris' Hospitality

To get to our apartment we must enter a small hallway that also serves as the waiting room for Boris' dental patients. He was sitting at his desk with his door open as I was passing by. We chatted a few minutes, then he invited me to have some juice. Having heard that he has a fondness for alcoholic beverages, I asked, "Is it alcoholic?"

"No, no, no," he assured me. "It is grape juice, from Carmel."

I tried it and took the rest to "Ferrin." It really was very good.

He asked me, "Why do you not drink alcohol, Sophia? It is because of your religion?"

Thinking fast, I replied, "Sometimes when people drink alcohol, they don't know what they are doing. We like to know what we are doing."

He laughed and was satisfied with my answer. His experience must have taught him that what I said was true!

A Good Egg

Buying unwashed eggs won't kill you.

That's right. Seems that folks over here in the Middle East have had that all figured out for quite some time. You might be surprised to find that even the supermarkets here do not refrigerate eggs. And when you get them home you will find feathers, etc. attached to your little protein-rich treasures.
Yesterday we went to Mahane Yehuda, Jerusalem's open market, to get some produce. We bought three dozen unwashed, unrefrigerated eggs for a song.

Interested in eggology? Check out http://notesfromchickenland.blogspot.com/2008/05/washing-eggs-or-not-primer.html

Herodian Column

A short walk from our apartment, on Shne'eor Chesnin Street, is the site of an ancient quarry. Those-who-know-about-such-things believe that this 40-foot long column was being carved directly from the bedrock when it cracked and was abandoned, deemed useless by the workers. Though some experts think it was intended for a Theodosian period (second half of the fourth century) building, most believe that it's original destination was Herod's Temple, the one in place during Jesus' time.

1-1-11

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This morning I went to the dumpster to take out our trash. The streets were quiet since it is Shabbat. On the way back, I saw a group of Filipinos. Turns out that one of them is a college student that we had not met yet. She told me that she has not been studying much lately and we made plans for her to being meeting again for lessons.
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By the way, for anyone interested...this year marks the 400th anniversary of the King James Version of the Bible.